PHNOM PENH: The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved 106 investment and investment expansion projects in the first three months of this year, an increase of 67 projects compared to the same period last year.

The total investment capital of the approved projects in the first quarter rose by 649 percent year-on-year to US$2.2 billion, pointed out a CDC's press release made public this morning.

The same source stated that the newly endorsed investment projects are expected to generate some 107,000 jobs for local people.

Breaking down by sectors, it underlined, investment in industrial sector got the largest share with 90.57 percent, while agriculture and agro-industry, infrastructure, and tourism accounted for 3.77 percent, 3.77 percent, and 1.89 percent, respectively.

About 58 percent of the total investment capital was from local investors, 35.34 percent from China, 3.16 percent from Singapore, 2.23 percent from Vietnam, and the rest from South Korea, the U.S. and Malaysia, the press release showed.

Vice-President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce Mr. Lim Heng attributed the increase in investment project to the country's potential under the new investment law, free trade agreements, mega-regional pact, and trade preferences.

“The new investment law, along with free trade agreements – Cambodia-China FTA and Cambodia-Korea FTA, RCEP – are factors that attracted investment from China to Cambodia as part of production for exports to foreign markets,” he said.